Northern wheatear

Northern wheatear
Male in breeding-plumage
Female
Song of male, Devon, England
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Oenanthe
Species:
O. oenanthe
Binomial name
Oenanthe oenanthe
Synonyms

Motacilla Oenanthe Linnaeus, 1758

Northern wheatear juvenile

The northern wheatear or wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It is the most widespread member of the wheatear genus Oenanthe in Europe and North and Central Asia.

The northern wheatear is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in open stony country in Europe and east across the Palearctic with footholds in northeastern Canada and Greenland as well as in northwestern Canada and Alaska. It nests in rock crevices and rabbit burrows. All birds spend most of their winter in Africa.

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2018). "Oenanthe oenanthe". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T103773898A132192232. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T103773898A132192232.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.